BURST
B.C. improved its ranking to a B+ grade on the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ 2025 State of Internal Trade report, up from a B in 2024, but it still has “a lot more work to do,” according to Ryan Mitton, CFIB’s director of legislative affairs for B.C.
The federation released its latest report card on interprovincial trade on Monday and credited B.C.’s gain on legislation that dropped most of its barriers to trade with other provinces as one measure to protect the province from external threats.
Mitton said eliminating trade barriers between provinces “couldn’t be more critical” at a time when threatened U.S. tariffs are starting to do real damage to the Canadian economy.
“Really, the big thing is, we’ve seen so much momentum just in the last six months, more even than in the six years since the 2017 Canada Free Trade Agreement,” Mitton added.
In B.C., this included a section in the province’s economic stabilization act that calls for the unilateral recognition in this province of most goods and services produced in other provinces, Mitton said.
However, while B.C. has lifted its restrictions on direct-to-consumer shipments of wine, Mitton said it has left similar restrictions on direct shipments of craft beer and spirits.
And although B.C. has improved on its recognition of professional and trades certifications from other provinces, Mitton added that B.C. still hasn’t set a schedule for the approval of workers certified in other provinces.
“The danger at this point is that we lose sight of that (progress). We need to keep the movement going.”
Nova Scotia earned top marks on the Canadian Federation of Independent Business report card with an A grade because it was the first province to implement mutual recognition legislation, followed closely by Ontario, which earned a slightly lower A grade by unilaterally eliminating all of the exemptions to the Canada Free Trade Agreement that it maintained.
Manitoba was the next closest with an A-, and B.C., with its B+ rounded out the top four provinces. The federal government, which included the elimination of its exemptions to the CFTA in legislation, dubbed the One Canadian Economy bill by Prime Minister Mark Carney, earned a B.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business argues that the stakes in smoothing over interprovincial trade are high with one 2019 International Monetary Fund estimate determining eliminating barriers would be up to a seven per cent boost to Canadian GDP.
Mitton said that could be as much as a $200 billion boost to Canada’s economy, $50 billion to B.C.
“We know competition is good for business and it allows them opportunities to expand their markets, hire more people, and invest in their businesses,” Mitton added.
Other economists, however, question the size of those estimated gains on the premise that the vast majority of goods and services that move across provincial borders do so without any barriers.
“When we look at what actual trade barriers exist, the list is very small — alcohol sales, some minor trucking regulations, and government procurement policies,” wrote Marc Lee, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives wrote in a February commentary on interprovincial trade.
Lee said there is work to do in some areas, such as credential recognition of skilled workers moving from province to province. And there are also risks in the mutual recognition of regulations on industries from province to province.
For example, Lee said trucking regulations in geographically flat Saskatchewan might not be appropriate for more mountainous B.C.
He argued “mutual recognition” could result in provinces being forced to accept the least stringent rules for safety, environmental and consumer protection.
Read the 2025 State of Internal Trade report .